Bhagavad Gita · Chapter 4
The Yoga of Knowledge and Renunciation of Action
42 verses · Krishna reveals the divine nature of his incarnations and teaches how knowledge purifies action and burns away karma.
Chapter 4
ज्ञानकर्मसन्यासयोग
Jñāna Karma Sannyāsa Yoga
4.1
The Supreme Lord said: I taught this imperishable science of yoga to Vivasvan (the…
4.2
This supreme science was thus received through the chain of succession, and the saintly…
4.3
That very same ancient yoga has been today taught by Me to you, because you are My…
4.4
Arjuna said: Your birth is recent, while the birth of Vivasvan (the sun-god) was in the…
4.5
The Supreme Lord said: Both you and I have had many births, O Arjuna
4.6
Although I am unborn and My nature is imperishable, and although I am the Lord of all…
4.7
Whenever there is a decline of righteousness and a rise of unrighteousness, O Arjuna, at…
4.8
For the protection of the righteous, the destruction of the wicked, and the establishment…
4.9
One who truly understands the divine nature of My birth and activities does not take…
4.10
Free from attachment, fear, and anger, absorbed in Me, taking refuge in Me, purified by…
4.11
In whatever way people surrender to Me, I reciprocate accordingly
4.12
Those who desire the fruits of their actions in this world worship the celestial gods,…
4.13
The four divisions of human society were created by Me according to differences in…
4.14
Actions do not taint Me, nor do I have any desire for the fruits of action
4.15
Having known this, the ancient seekers of liberation also performed their duties
4.16
What is action
4.17
You must understand the nature of action, the nature of forbidden action, and the nature…
4.18
One who sees inaction in action and action in inaction is wise among human beings
4.19
One whose every undertaking is free from the desire for results, and whose actions are…
4.20
Having abandoned attachment to the fruits of action, ever content, depending on nothing…
4.21
Free from expectations, with mind and body controlled, having given up all sense of…
4.22
Content with whatever comes unsought, beyond the pairs of opposites, free from envy, and…
4.23
For one who is free from attachment, liberated, established in knowledge, and who…
4.24
For one who sees Brahman in the offering, Brahman in the oblation, Brahman in the sacred…
4.25
Some yogis offer sacrifice to the celestial gods alone, while others offer the self as…
4.26
Some offer hearing and other senses into the fires of restraint; others offer sound and…
4.27
Others offer all the functions of the senses and the functions of the breath as sacrifice…
4.28
Some offer their material possessions as sacrifice, some offer austerity, some offer yoga…
4.29
Others offer the outgoing breath into the incoming breath, and the incoming breath into…
4.30
Others, regulating their food intake, offer the life-breaths into the life-breaths as…
4.31
Those who partake of the nectar of the remnants of sacrifice attain the eternal Brahman
4.32
Many kinds of sacrifice are thus spread out in the Vedas
4.33
O scorcher of foes, the sacrifice of knowledge is superior to the sacrifice of material…
4.34
Learn that knowledge by approaching the wise, by asking sincere questions, and by…
4.35
Having known this, O Pandava, you will never again fall into delusion
4.36
Even if you are the most sinful of all sinners, you shall cross over all evil by the boat…
4.37
As a blazing fire reduces firewood to ashes, O Arjuna, so does the fire of knowledge…
4.38
In this world, there is nothing as purifying as knowledge
4.39
The faithful one, devoted to that knowledge, with senses controlled, attains knowledge;…
4.40
The ignorant, the faithless, and the doubting soul perishes
4.41
O Dhananjaya, one who has renounced actions through yoga, whose doubts have been cut…
4.42
Therefore, with the sword of knowledge, cut asunder this doubt born of ignorance that…